Beijing to flatter Trump but deny his N Korea plea
CHINA: China will lavish praise on Donald Trump during his first trip as United States president to the Asian superpower, but it is expected to rebuff his request to do more to halt North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
Trump travelled yesterday to Beijing’s Forbidden City, the former seat of Chinese imperial power, at the start of what is being described by officials as a ‘‘state visit plus’’. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s unspoken demand is that in return for the red carpet treatment, Trump acknowledges him as an equal.
‘‘It’ll be a show of the Chinese culture,’’ Shen Dingli, professor of international studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said. ‘‘This is to say, ‘I respect you, and now you should respect me as well’.’’
As the world’s second-largest economy after the US, China’s leadership yearns for a global status commensurate with its economic clout, and Xi has gradually abandoned his predecessors’ philosophy of keeping a low profile.
It seems likely Trump will leave Beijing with some trade deals to trumpet but without any further agreement to tighten sanctions on the regime of Kim Jong Un.
‘‘For North Korea, there won’t be any substantial progress,’’ said Shen. ‘‘It will be brought up but nothing will come out of it. And the North Korea nuclear issue is one single problem that will hurt US-China relations.’’
China has already agreed to place sanctions on North Korea, although it continues to supply its neighbour with fuel oil, albeit in limited quantities.
‘‘China’s sanctions against Pyongyang have been unprecedented in terms of scope and severity, and now China no longer has the capability, nor the willingness, to further sanction North Korea,’’ said Shi Yinhong, professor of international studies at Renmin University in Beijing.
Before leaving South Korea for China yesterday, Trump warned North Korea ‘‘do not underestimate us and do not try us’’ as he vowed that the US would defend itself and its allies against Pyongyang’s nuclear threat.
Trump issued a stern message that Washington ‘‘will not be intimidated’’ as he wrapped up a 24-hour visit to South Korea with a speech to the National Assembly in Seoul.
He urged countries around the world to join together to isolate Pyongyang by denying it ‘‘any form of support, supply or acceptance’’.
Trump returned to tough talk against North Korea a day after he appeared to dial back some of his bellicose rhetoric and instead took more of a carrot-and-stick approach, offering a diplomatic opening to ‘‘make a deal’’.
The speech came after Trump’s attempt to make an unannounced early-morning visit to the heavily fortified border separating North Korea and South Korea was aborted when dense fog prevented his helicopter from landing, officials said.
A visit to the Demilitarised Zone, despite his aides’ earlier insistence that Trump had no plans to go there, would have had the potential to further inflame tensions with North Korea.